1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bar material feeding machine for feeding a bar material into a processing machine, such as a lathe, and particularly, to a bar feeder, which is capable of reducing vibration and noise during its working.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional bar feeder and lathe system, the bar feeder is provided at the rear side of the automatic lathe and adapted to feed a bar material into the automatic lathe for processing.
A conventional bar feeder generally comprises a rotary shaft, a transmission mechanism, a pushing rod, and a projecting rod. The rotary shaft has a coupling member. The transmission mechanism comprises a chain. The pushing rod is fixedly connected to the chain. The projecting rod is coupled to the coupling member of the rotary shaft and rotatable with the rotary shaft between a first position where the projecting rod is engaged with the chain and a second position where the projecting rod is disengaged from the chain. When the projecting rod is engaged with the chain, the projecting rod is kept in a feeder tube and movable in an axial direction along the feeder tube. When the projecting rod is disengaged from the chain, the pushing rod is forced to move a bar material in the feeder tube to a position where is supposed to be the front end of the projecting rod when the projecting rod is stayed in the feeder tube and then returned to its former position. At this time, the rotary shaft drives the projecting rod into engagement with the chain so that the projecting rod and the pushing rod are simultaneously movable with the chain in the feeder tube to project the bar material into the automatic lathe for processing.
When projecting the bar material to the automatic lathe, the projecting rod and the pushing rod are moved with the chain. However, because there is a gap between the projecting rod and the pushing rod, vibration and noise are produced when projecting the bar material into the automatic lathe for processing. Further, the gap between the projecting rod and the pushing rod may cause accidental engagement between the pushing rod and the feeder tube or chain during movement of the pushing rod, resulting in a machine failure. Therefore, the aforesaid conventional bar feeder is not convenient in use.